West Bridgewater teens get phone time with U.S. Sen. Scott Brown

Thursday

Mar 25, 2010 at 12:01 AMMar 25, 2010 at 7:32 AM

Jacob Manning, Steve Ameno and Emily Miltner, students in the middle-senior high school’s broadcast journalism class, pursued – and snagged – a 10-minute telephone interview with Scott Brown, the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts and a GOP media star.

Sandra L. Churchill

Jacob Manning, 17, thinks journalists should aim high.

So Manning and two classmates from the middle-senior high school’s broadcast journalism class pursued – and snagged – a 10-minute telephone interview with Scott Brown, the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts and a GOP media star.

“We kept it quiet because we were afraid it wouldn’t happen,” said Principal Jeff Szymaniak.

“I mean, how cool is that,” he said. “We’re a little town south of Boston whose students made a call. Those kids are flying high right now.”

During the interview, Manning and classmates Steve Ameno and Emily Miltner spoke with Brown on a speaker phone. They recorded the conversation on audio and set up a video camera to record the student reporters during the interview.

The piece is being edited this week and should be aired for several weeks on the town’s cable station, WBTV Channel 9, starting the week of April 5.

“It took a while to get it set up (with Brown’s staff),” said Manning. “But we got a commitment for 10 minutes, and it eventually ended up being during the ceremonial signing of the (federal) jobs bill.”

In the interview on Friday, the students asked Brown about his first 30 days in office, his military career and his committee assignments, which include the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

“He works 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., and only gets six hours of sleep a night,” said Manning. “And being able to talk to him was the coolest thing because he was so down-to-earth, not like a politician.”

Scott Cray, who teaches the class, said he was proud of the students’ determination.

“My students must think outside the box and go after the information that is necessary to report a fair, informative story for WBTV News,” said Cray, who also manages the town’s cable TV station.

Miltner and Ameno didn’t expect the interview would happen. “We were surprised,” said Ameno.

The Enterprise

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